Chicken Soup For the Singer's Soul
by Airame Phantom
Summary: Plot Bunny by wingsofmorphius: Ember passes out in the park after a short fight with Danny. She didn't give it her all, why? Look's like the ectoflu is real and now he feels obligated to help her. But is the obligation heroic, or emotional? [ED]


A/N: ALL RIGHT! New story! This is a one-shot and there will be Ember/Danny-ness. I think the pairing is kind of cute, though, this coming from a D/S shipper XD

Anywho, here we go!

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_**Chicken Soup For the Singer's Soul**_

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"Oh come on! You've got to be kidding me!" a young, black-haired boy exclaimed. A shiver down his spine too many! WAY too many! His once gentle blue eyes flashed a fury green. 

Sam and Tucker, his two companions, had noticed the blue tinted wisp of smoke that had escaped his lips. They knew the drill too well.

"Ghost?" Sam asked. She was a fair girl with ebony black hair and extraordinary violet eyes.

"Just when we thought things couldn't get any worst after that math test," Tucker murmured. He was a dark-skinned boy with a knack for technology. His greenish-blue eyes swept across the field of the park. He didn't see any ghosts.

"I guess Murphy's Law really _**was**_ invented to torture us," Danny said, dropping his head onto the picnic they were sitting at.

"Well, we're not gonna get anywhere while moping around," Sam responded, standing up from her seat.

Danny rose a hand to stop her. "I'll go," he said. "Afterwards I think I'm gonna head home anyway. You guys can hang around without me. We got another test tomorrow I still have to study for." He looked up at them and stood.

"You sure?" Sam asked reluctantly.

"Yeah…." Danny sighed, sub-consciously rubbing the back of his neck. He forced a smile. "How bad can it be, right?" As he spoke, a bluish white ring of light formed at his waist. He grinned for real now as the ring split in two, one traveling up towards his head and the other going down to his feet. As the rings sizzled out of existence, in this raven-haired teenage boy's place was Amity Park's own Danny Phantom, the ghostly hero of the city.

"Good luck, dude," Tucker said, and tossed him the Fenton thermos.

Danny caught it, his legs vanishing and being replaced with a spectral trail. "Thanks," he said, and flew off.

The teen's now glowing green eyes swept the park area as he flew. He didn't see anything still. But he did hear something. Turning his head to the right end of the park, he saw who was playing the melodic music. He flew closer, not believing his eyes. No way she'd be back.

As he came closer, he sighed. Of course she'd be back.

Down on the ground was a hastily built stage. A crowd had begun to form around it, cheering on the wickedness of the music being played. Standing at the front, center stage, was a teenage young woman with flimsy black clothes torso, and black, skin-tight pants. Not to mention her one gloved hand and silver, skull-like boots. Oh, and did I also say her hair was just a blue flame?

In her arms and hanging from the strap around her shoulders, was a guitar. Her name was Ember McClain. Around her were three other bozos: one on guitar, one on electric piano, and the other on drums.

The other weird thing was, though, Ember was not singing. She was only playing her guitar. Danny frowned. Wasn't her voice what also worked to entrance her listeners?

Danny cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hoping to go instrumental?"

Immediately, the crowd looked up at him, and Ember glared. "Take a hike, dipstick!" she said into the microphone in front of her. Why was there a mic but no singing?

"Make me!" the ghost hybrid said instead.

"Don't mind if I do!" Ember said and, pointing her guitar at him, turned the dial and struck a few countless chords.

Danny dodged just barely, having to lose his legs one more time before making the spectral tail that followed him solid again. He watched as the musical, pink fist knocked into a couple of trees, knocking them over. "Ha! Mis-" his sentence was cut off as another set of notes was struck and another, quicker fist came at him. Over the music, he could hear people screaming. What a ruckus…

Danny was set sprawling backwards from the blast, knocking on the pavement. Hard.

Ember came off of her stage and proceeded to walk over to him, standing a few yards away. Danny sat up. Now that she was a little bit closer, he could see she looked paler than usual. Her face spelled sick. "Look, For once in my career, I actually just want to play my music!" Ember said in her low voice. "So if you will please just leave, I'll greatly appreciate it."

"I don't think that's gonna happen!" Danny said. Ember scowled as she noticed that he'd been secretly charging up ectoplasmic energy into his hands. Before long, she found herself in the same position he'd been in earlier.

Just what she needed…..

Danny walked up to her now motionless body lying on the floor. "Oh come on, Ember. You're not the greatest actor in the world…" he said. No response. Ember just laid there. He looked towards the stage. The three other players were gone. He blinked.

This was NOT part of the plan. "Hope I don't regret this…." Danny mumbled, and got down on one knee next to the teenager. He bit his lower lip and shook her shoulder gently. Ember's head lolled to the side. If ghosts could die twice, he would have freaked, but since they can't (or at least he hoped they couldn't) he knew that she was probably just out cold.

People started to gather again, but not close, just far enough to be able to see what was going on. Danny wasted no time. He had to get away from these people before reporters came and took down the story. And he couldn't capture Ember in this condition. Well, he could, but he didn't want to. It wouldn't be fair to send her to the Ghost Zone while she was unconscious. Or rather, he didn't want to.

"Sheesh lueesh! Stupid voices in my head…." Danny murmured quietly. He slipped his around beneath Ember and picked her up. Without a second's hesitation, he jolted up off the ground and into flight. There was only one other place where he could take Ember….

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"No way!" said a shrilly voice.

Danny watched as his sister paced back and forth across the floor of his bedroom. He sighed and looked at Ember again. She was sleeping rather peacefully on his bed. He'd brother her to his room in hopes Jazz could help him. He wasn't a medical student, and didn't hope to be one either. He figured Jazz would know what's up. He pulled the blue blanket he'd lain on her higher up to her chin as she shifted slightly her position.

"Come on, Jazz," he said. "I didn't know what else to do. And it'll only be until she wakes up." He looked at his sister again, and sighed as she continued to pace. His eyes followed her.

"I don't know, Danny! Keeping a ghost like her right under a pair of ghost hunters' noses? It doesn't exactly spell out 'good idea'!" She made signs like apostrophes in the air at 'good idea'.

"Well, the faster we figure out what's wrong, the faster we won't have to hide her," Danny said. Her reluctance was starting to annoy him, though he couldn't blame her.

"Fine! Fine!" Jazz said. "Was there anything weird before she fainted?"

"She was talking in a low voice, and she wasn't singing even though there was a microphone," Danny answered promptly.

"Uh-hm…." Jazz murmured, looking at Ember's still body. She walked towards her and Danny and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Cold sweat…." she murmured, looking at Ember. She reached up to her forehead and put the back of her hand to her head. "And seemingly high temperature…."

The moment Jazz's hand touched Ember's forehead, the ghoul went into a slight coughing fit. Jazz pulled back. Danny stood suddenly, not knowing what to do. The coughing was loud!

Both of them stared at the door, hoping no one heard that. They stared and stared for nearly ten seconds when Danny finally couldn't hold his breath anymore, and let it out in a rush. Ember finally stopped coughing, and shifted position on the bed. Danny looked at her. The ghoul looked so peaceful while she was asleep. So vulnerable, as if anything can happen and she'd be helpless. He couldn't help let a fond smile form across his lips.

"Mom and dad must be in the lab," Jazz said. She looked at Danny, and couldn't help but smile herself as she saw he'd quietly went to sit down next to Ember again.

He was acting so protective of her, even his face showed a slight bit of worry. "She'll be fine, just the flu," she said.

Danny looked at her, puzzled and surprised. "Can ghosts get the flu?" he asked. Jazz came over, puling the blankets over Ember a little more seeing as they had shifted down in her restless movements while coughing. Ember cuddled up a little more beneath the blue sheets, Danny watched.

"I guess they can," Jazz answered. "She just needs rest. It's probably an ecto-flu. Mom and dad have been researching that lately. A virus that affects ghosts." She looked at him then, into his inquiring blue eyes. Practically reading his mind, she answered, "Don't worry. As long as you don't go in contact with her during ghost form, it shouldn't affect you."

Danny gave a relieved sigh.

"Oh, and mom is also working on a cure. It's like regular medicine, but for ghosts. Dunno if it'll work, but worth a shot?"

"Sure…" Danny said. "But I don't think we should do it until Ember wakes up."

"Whatever you say, Danny," Jazz sighed. "I'll make sure mom and dad don't catch her in your room. Also you do know about Murphy's Law, right?"

"Thanks for reminding me," Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Just be careful, okay?" Jazz said. He nodded. Taking one last glance at the duet of ghost, Jazz walked out the room, making sure to close the door behind her.

Danny sighed, looking at Ember. He carefully brushed away a couple of blue locks of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. The girl's facial expression changed form one of peace, to one of slight content. She smiled. "Mom…." she whispered.

Danny blinked. _Not mom… _he thought laughingly, and looked out the window then. Already getting dark….must be well past 6 by now.

"Better started studying…" he murmured, and was about to stand, when he noticed something was keeping him back. He blinked incredulously at the sight. Ember had somehow reached to grab his arm while he wasn't paying attention. He didn't know how, but she had. "Okay…." he whispered, sitting back down. "I guess I won't study yet…."

He gingerly took his hand out of Ember's grasp. The girl shifted again, and sighed, before a soft coughing sound escape her throat. Danny bit his lip, and sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall behind him. Sighing, the boy just sat there, gazing at Ember's sleeping, troubled form.

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"Unnnhm…." groaned a voice. The form in the darkness shifted beneath ruffled blankets. She felt so cold. And every muscle in her body felt so soar. "Oh….my head…" she whispered hoarsely, and touched her forehead before opening her eyes. Her groggily blurred vision began to clear. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Obviously, she was in an enclosed room. Not the Fenton thermos, not the Ghost Zone. She could feel the soft touch of fabric over her. Blankets. Her eyes widened as she realized where she could possibly.

Ember immediately sat up, inhaling quickly, grasping the blankets over her protectively. The minute she did, however, because of her quick breath, she caught in another coughing fit.

She tried to control it, prevailing this one time. She touched her throat as she stopped her coughing. Her throat felt so raw…

"Ehm…" murmured a muffled voice. She grasped the blankets around her tighter, and swing her legs over the side of the bed, bringing her knees together. She looked through the light darkness at the boy slumped against the wall. Her lashes fell half-closed as she stare questioningly at the boy. _Why did he….?_

Her head hurt too much for her to even wonder. She smiled fondly at him as she shifted slightly. "Thanks," she whispered. She felt another cough coming up, and hoped not to wake him. But of course, as Murphy's Law has it, the boy was finally awakened by the sound of her coughing.

Danny stirred and sat straight up. "What the…?" he murmured, eyes darting from side to side, looking for the culprit of his waking. His eyes finally landing on Ember, whom looked pained, grasping her throat. "Ember?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Ember looked at him, eyes glowing faintly. "My head hurts, my throat hurts, everything hurts…" she said in a hoarse voice. "I feel miserable…." She tugged at the covers, bringing them closer to her body.

"Jazz says it's just the flu," he said. "Ecto-flu. Heard of it?" He began to stand.

Ember nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said softly, her voice dry and raspy. "It's been going around. I caught it from Klemper."

"He hugged you?" Danny asked, coming to sit next to her. Ember tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a motor not wanting to turn on. She coughed once, then smiled wearily.

"It never gets old," she said. Danny grinned. She looked at the ground then. "Why'd you bring me here?" she asked.

Danny's smile vanished, and he too stared at the ground. "I don't know…." He paused, breath catching in his throat before he looked up at her. "I guess I just didn't want to leave you alone in your condition…"

"You were worried about me?" Ember asked incredulously. She saw Danny turn away from her, noticed through the light darkness that his cheeks were now a rosy color. Judging from the fact it was light enough for her to notice this, it must be near morning.

Can a ghost blush? If one could, then Ember would be number one on the list of brightest blushes. She could practically feel her face grow warm.

"I…..uhm…..how are you feeling?" Danny asked, clearing his throat.

"Better than last night, but not great," she replied softly.

"My mom…." Danny started. "My mom made a supposed cure for the ecto-flu. She hasn't tested it yet, but I heard her shouting from downstairs. Jazz told me that she saw what it was. Just like a shot…It's supposed to get rid of what's causing the flu, a certain type of thick ectoplasm or something…."

"I think I can make it on my own without a shot," Ember insisted, smiling lightly.

"Afraid of shots, hot-shot pop star?" Danny asked.

"A mouthful, don't you think? You're witty-banter isn't getting any better, dipstick," Ember said just as playfully. She gave him a small smirk, eyes narrowing smugly.

"Neither is yours," Danny said, looking at her as well.

Ember laughed quietly at his confident-playfulness. Then she looked at him again. "So how about that shot….?"

Danny side-grinned.

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"Be careful what you touch. This stuff can go off any minute," Danny warned, leading Ember through the lab. Said ghoul's eyes wandered about the cluttered room. Ghost weapons and detection devices littered every corner of the room. She was surprised at how this ghost-boy could live beneath such circumstances.

Then, all of a sudden, she was seized by the exact same type of dizzy spell that had caught her off-guard back at the park earlier that day. She stopped dead in her tracks, touching her head gingerly, hoping the spell would pass. "Nnngh…." she groaned when it didn't. Her head throbbed and she felt her legs turn to jelly beneath her weight.

"Ember?" Danny's voice seemed to bounce off the walls before finally reaching her ears. She felt the air around her begin to swirl, and her vision became hazy. Her hand fell from her forehead, and her eyes drooped before her jelly-legs finally gave way and she found herself falling into another dark abyss of unconscious territory.

"Ember!" Danny exclaimed as he found her falling backwards. Pumping his legs as quick as his startled body could allow, he reached her in the nick of time, catching her before she hit the ground. He'd had to slid on his knees in order to do so, so now the stinging sensation in his knees brought his mind back to reality of the fact he'd been taking the ecto-flu too lightly. He could remember the last time he had a regular flu and he felt awful, just wanting to sleep and not get up.

This oughtta be the same.

Drawing in a deep breath, he looked around the lab for anything that resembled a shot. Jazz told him it was a type of blue vial. Surely it should be somewhere outside on the counters if his sister had to force their parents to go to bed…

Alas, his eyes fell upon a dimly glowing thick-looking liquid inside a syringe. On it was a label that he could read stating 'Fenton Ecto-Flu Cure'. He sighed with some relief, then looked at the fallen Ember in his arms on his lap. "Okay, Ember, I'm just gonna…..ughm…..drag you over here for a…second…" he murmured, all the while trying to haul Ember up. He managed to get to his feet and get Ember picked up so that he could actually carry her no problem. Well, sorta. In truth, he was still struggling to keep her from falling down, but it was a little easier. He looked over his shoulder as he stumbled towards the vial backwards. A single sweat drop ran down the side of his face.

Sheesh….never thought it'd be this tough to take care of a sick cru-

He stopped his thoughts as quick as possible as he ran through what the heck he was about to say.

Fenton you've gone totally nuts!, he told himself, shaking his head and focusing on the present situation.

Just a couple more inches and……

As quickly as he could, he swiped up the needle-capped syringe before Ember's weight sent him falling backwards. "Gack!" he exclaimed, surprised as his imbalance.

A good thing he kept his grip on that syringe else he would have had to haul Ember all the way over to wherever it would have fallen. Sighing with some relief, the raven-haired boy tugged Ember higher on his lap and took off the protective cap around the needle of the shot. He took Ember's arm and, making sure the needle work, carefully stuck it into where he believed doctors usually put shots. He bit his lip, pressing down on the piston until most of the liquid was gone. He pulled the needle out and Ember shifted a little bit.

Sighing, he put the shot on the counter again. Ember began to shiver slightly now. Danny blinked. He'd never felt cold when he was in ghost form…

She curled up, face drawn into slight relief, but still some sort of pain. She brought her knees up, and put a hand on his chest. Danny could do nothing more but watch and support her as he eyes opened slowly.

And he could do nothing to stop his thoughts.

She looks so beautiful right now….I…..I just can't….

"Danny…." she whispered. No sharp remark. No sick comment. She smiled then and began to sit up. Finally, she was on her knees. She rubbed her arm as a stinging came every time she touched where the needle had penetrated her skin. "I guess you're parents are good…." she whispered.

Danny looked at her through thoughtful eyes. He couldn't help the small blush creep up his cheeks. He smiled a small, sheepish smile and sub-consciously rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I guess so…" he murmured.

"I feel good as new," Ember laughed, and smiled at him. "I don't know if this means that I owe you or-"

"Just say it," Danny said, and crossed his arms. But the blush never left his cheeks. He saw Ember's own cheeks color considerably as well. He narrowed his eyes and smiled smugly.

"What…what do you mean?" she asked.

"I know you're just skipping around it," Danny said. "Say 'thank you'!"

Ember let out a defeated breath and eyed his grin. He looked so smug, it was cute. But now it was her turn to smirk. "Fine," she said, and leaned in towards him. The blush on her face mad her ears feel so warm. And she knew, though her eyes had closed a second after closing in, that Danny's blush was even stronger now that she was this close.

Gently, she placed a soft kiss onto his lips, and then, coming around to his ear, whispered, "Thanks, baby-pop."

All the while, Danny hadn't moved at all, still caught in the shock of the kiss and whisper. But before he had a chance to recover, Ember had giggled and had gone invisible.

"I'll be seeing you…." the air whispered, and the Ghost Portal doors opened and closed.

Danny touched his lips and turned to the closing portal. "I'm looking forward to that."

He could swear he heard a giggle right before the doors closed. He smiled.

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E/N: Alright, so the plot bunny for this idea came from Wingsofmorphius! I wrote the fic, the idea was all hers. It was based off her awesome drawing. I just extended the bunny into a full-fledge one-shot thingy. So yeah, idea belongs to Wings and her drawing. 

Here are the linkies!

Wingsofmorphius:

www. wingsofmorphius. deviantart. com

Drawing:

I couldn't manage to put the linkie for that up, but search through her gallery and look for 'Chicken Soup'!

--Airamé Phantom


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